New Mexico Mercury

Runoff Rule a Major Factor in ABQ Special Election

I can only assume that both Janice Arnold-Jones and Bud Shaver each wish that they had never heard the other's name.

Everything that happened in Albuquerque's special election - and I do mean everything, especially the overwhelming defeat of the carpetbaggers' anti-women/anti-choice/and-science abortion ban - came down to the District 7 run-off. Without the less-than-50% runoff rule and the city council race that fell under those terms, the vote on the Albuquerque late-term abortion ban would have been a mail-in election only...

JFK: Effective Leadership Draws People Beyond Self-Interest

The importance of remembering Kennedy's life and legacy, fifty years after his tragic passing.

High Stakes, Low Turnout Elections

Local politics was overshadowed by non-stop Washington dramas this fall, but important trends emerged and decisions were made in New Mexico and the Paso del Norte borderland that will chart the identity and destiny of the region for years to come. Yet in various contests, it was a distinct minority of the electorate that shaped future courses...

Destruction of Public Education Continues Apace

Hanna the Great met with teachers in Albuquerque last week, and guess what, they didn’t like the new step toward privatizing New Mexico education one darn bit. I wonder why. Despite objections from educators, ed. administrators throughout the state, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, PED says the student and teacher evaluation program is going forward at double speed. “We don’t give a tortilla for what you think.”...

Provincial Matters, 11-18-2013

V.B. Price's weekly collection of appreciations and observations.

El Machete: Off the Chain!

El Machete

CVNM’s 2013 Conservation Scorecard: Legislative actions to protect our water were the exception

Today, we unveiled the statewide 2013 Conservation Scorecard. The Scorecard reflects the deep disagreement over the management of our state’s scarce water supplies.

As our population grows and water supplies dwindle—exacerbated by the growing effects of climate change—we must work even harder to keep the water we have clean. Sadly, the votes tell the story: legislative actions to proactively protect our water were the exception, not the rule...

Brook’s suspension warranted but Governor’s stance hypocritical

The suspension of Albuquerque Public Schools superintendent Winston Brooks last week for disparaging tweets against state education-designate Hanna Skandera was the right thing to do, but Governor Susan Martinez’s public remarks about the matter contradict her own inaction toward a high-ranking member of her own administration for a far worse offense against a woman...

Insight New Mexico - Pat Davis

V.B. Price talks with Pat Davis, Executive Director of ProgressNow New Mexico, about the upcoming vote on the Albuquerque abortion ordinance.

The High Cost of Candy:  Death Toll Climbs in Factory Disaster

The fatal toll from the October 24 explosion and partial building collapse at a Mexican border candy factory now stands at eight workers.  The death of Miguel Armando Reyes Castro was announced this week after the critically injured worker succumbed in a Guadalajara hospital where he had been transferred for treatment of severe burns sustained from the pre-Halloween disaster that struck the Dulces Blueberry factory hundreds of miles to the north in Ciudad Juarez.

The Blueberry plant manufactures Sunrise Confections candy products which are sold in large retail outlets in the United States for El Paso-based Mount Franklin Foods, which in turn is a subsidiary of the Elamex company.  Blueberry’s workers are not directly employed by the candy maker, instead laboring for the ELI labor sub-contracting agency...